porkbustersnewsm.jpgPORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Here's a joint statement by a number of bloggers on the House leadership election:

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We are bloggers with boatloads of opinions, and none of us come close to agreeing with any other one of us all of the time. But we do agree on this: The new leadership in the House of Representatives needs to be thoroughly and transparently free of the taint of the Jack Abramoff scandals, and beyond that, of undue influence of K Street.

We are not naive about lobbying, and we know it can and has in fact advanced crucial issues and has often served to inform rather than simply influence Members.

But we are certain that the public is disgusted with excess and with privilege. We hope the Hastert-Dreier effort leads to sweeping reforms including the end of subsidized travel and other obvious influence operations. Just as importantly, we call for major changes to increase openness, transparency and accountability in Congressional operations and in the appropriations process.

As for the Republican leadership elections, we hope to see more candidates who will support these goals, and we therefore welcome the entry of Congressman John Shadegg to the race for Majority Leader. We hope every Congressman who is committed to ethical and transparent conduct supports a reform agenda and a reform candidate. And we hope all would-be members of the leadership make themselves available to new media to answer questions now and on a regular basis in the future.

UPDATE: It's already got a mention in the National Journal Blogometer.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Thinking Things Through has posted a list of Republican House members and their phone numbers, for those who would like to weigh in.

And there's more coverage of this statement at The Hotline blog: "Last week On Call speculated about whether the GOP leadership elections could 'inflame a Miers-like trigger point in the ligaments connecting GOP bloggers to the party establishment,' and as of this afternoon, that might be happening."

MORE: Professor Bainbridge has signed on, and makes a good observation: "Leaders who believe in small government would be a plus. Big government, after all, was the root cause of the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal."
posted at 02:28 PM by Glenn Reynolds

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